The patient’s symptoms

The patient’s symptoms

The patient’s symptoms and history do point to atypical bacterial pneumonia. The air bubbles were detected at the onset using the x-ray; this implies that bacterial pneumonia is the most suited diagnosis for the patient. The patient has had recent contact with persons suffering from respiratory infections, and it is a risk factor for getting bacterial pneumonia. You have stated that it is better to hospitalize this patient. Based on their medical history and age, hospitalization is the better option as they require regular assessments and follow-ups. Since the patient’s pneumonia may have stemmed from a pre-existing condition, outpatient life is not convenient as it is difficult to predict how the prescribed medication affects their body.

Also, the suggestion of using beta-lactam as a treatment course for the condition is suitable.  Atypical pathogens affect the lower part of the patient’s respiratory system, which may have been the cause of the consolidated lungs presented by the x-ray scans. Beta-lactams are antibiotics that work to cover such pathogens as they are active against gram-negative/positive and anaerobic organisms. The medicines work best as they target the cause of the infection, and as such, the body can heal faster. Bacterial pneumonia depends on the geographical location and the season (winter, autumn).

Your statement that COVID_19 is a deferential diagnosis because it portrays the same symptoms as pneumonia is true. X-rays of the chest are not sufficient tools to discern the difference between a COVID_19 and pneumonia diagnosis. They are not conclusive and do have the ability to capture all parts of the respiratory system  (Taghizadieh et al., 2015). Therefore,  as suggested using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method where the amplification of specific DNA measures the subsequent RNA for positive results (Liu, 2020). The presence of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia may be conclusive as the patient was in contact with respiratory infected persons (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020).  The patient has an underlying condition, and as such, they are pre-disposed to pneumocystis jirovecii as the immune system is weak.

References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Pneumocystis pneumonia. https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/pneumocystis-pneumonia/index.html.

Liu, R., Liu, F., Han, H., & Lv, Z. (2020). Positive rate of RT-PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection in 4880 cases from one hospital in Wuhan, China, from Jan to Feb 2020.  Research Gate. DOI: 10.1016/j.cca.2020.03.009.

Taghizadieh, A.,  Ala, A., Rahmani, F.,  & Nadi, F. (2015). Diagnostic accuracy of chest x-ray and ultrasonography in detection of community-acquired pneumonia; a brief report. Emergency, 3(3): 114–116. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4608340/,